Murderer sentenced to 90 years in prison for 'reign of terror'

Updated 10:10 am, Thursday, February 14, 2013

Greenwich resident Alain LeConte, shown here in a photo provided by Greenwich police, is charged in connection with the 2009 armed robberies of gas stations in Greenwich and Norwalk.

Greenwich resident Alain LeConte, shown here in a photo provided by Greenwich police, is charged in connection with the 2009 armed robberies of gas stations in Greenwich and Norwalk.

Photo: Contributed Photo, ST

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Jose Joaquin Morales poses near Stamford Harbor August 25th, 2009. Morales was shot and killed during a robbery Saturday morning, Oct 10th, 2009, at the Shell gas station at 94 West Ave. in Norwalk.

Jose Joaquin Morales poses near Stamford Harbor August 25th, 2009. Morales was shot and killed during a robbery Saturday morning, Oct 10th, 2009, at the Shell gas station at 94 West Ave. in Norwalk.

Photo: File Photo

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In this video surveillance image from Nov. 21, 2009, a hooded suspect is shown holding a gun to the head of an employee of the Mobil on the Run gas station on East Putnam Avenue in Old Greenwich. The employee was shot in the head during the robbery, but would survive. Alain LeConte was charged in connection with the armed robbery and shooting.

In this video surveillance image from Nov. 21, 2009, a hooded suspect is shown holding a gun to the head of an employee of the Mobil on the Run gas station on East Putnam Avenue in Old Greenwich. The employee

Alain LeConte, left, and his lawyer, Special Public Defender Mark Phillips, at the state Superior Court in Stamford on Dec. 15, 2010. LeConte, 22, of Bertolf Road, Greenwich, was arraigned on attempted murder and felony robbery charges in connection with a 2009 armed robbery in Greenwich.

Alain LeConte, left, and his lawyer, Special Public Defender Mark Phillips, at the state Superior Court in Stamford on Dec. 15, 2010. LeConte, 22, of Bertolf Road, Greenwich, was arraigned on attempted murder

Alain LeConte, 22, of Greenwich, listens during his arraignment proceedings at the Norwalk Superior Court Dec. 16, 2010, in Norwalk. LeConte is facing felony murder and first-degree robbery charges for the Oct. 10, 2009, incident at the Miracle Shell Station on West Avenue in Norwalk in which gas station clerk Jose Joaquin Morales was killed.

Alain LeConte, left, and his lawyer, Special Public Defender Mark Phillips, at the state Superior Court in Stamford on Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2010. Leconte, 22, of Bertolf Road, Greenwich, was arraigned on attempted murder and felony robbery charges in connection with a 2009 armed robbery in Greenwich. LeConte is expected to be charged Thursday with felony murder charges for a deadly robbery in Norwalk about a month before the Greenwich crime.

Alain LeConte, left, and his lawyer, Special Public Defender Mark Phillips, at the state Superior Court in Stamford on Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2010. Leconte, 22, of Bertolf Road, Greenwich, was arraigned on

Emilio and Marvin Morales, relatives of Jose Joaquin Morales, stand with their attorney Alex Martinez outside the Norwalk Superior Court Thursday, Dec. 16, 2010 in Norwalk, Conn. Thirty-two-year-old Jose Joaquin Morales of Stamford was shot in the head during an October 2009 robbery. He died two days later after family members decided to remove him from life support. Twenty-two-year-old Alain Leconte and 24-year-old Mustafa Jacobs are scheduled to be arraigned Thursday in Norwalk Superior Court for their roles in the robbery of the West Haven Avenue gas station. Investigators say Morales and patrons were ordered to lie on the floor during the robbery. As the suspects were leaving, one turned and shot Morales. (AP Photo/The Hour/ Erik Trautmann)

STAMFORD -- It has been more than three years since Alain LeConte's three-month "reign of terror" and violence in Fairfield County ended, but the scars, both physical and emotional, remain with LeConte's victims and their families.

In an impassioned and eloquent address to Judge Gary White and the court Wednesday in state Superior Court, Bridgeport resident Angie Louis, the wife of the Greenwich gas station attendant who was shot in the head by LeConte in 2009, described the toll LeConte's violence has taken on their family.

"It's not easy; it's darkness," she said. "It's everything bad you can imagine."

Clutching their daughter while speaking, Louis detailed how her husband is now afraid of the dark, suffers nightmares and must take medication. She hides knives in the house because she fears for his safety, she said.

"He's threatened to kill himself," she said. "If I give up on him, what's going to happen to him and to his daughter?"

Louis explained how her husband is an honest man who was just trying to create a better life for himself and his loved ones when LeConte shot him. She was six weeks pregnant at the time.

"My life turned upside down," she said.

On Wednesday, Judge White sentenced LeConte, formerly of Bertolf Road in Greenwich, to 90 years in prison, along with the 25-year mandatory minimum, for the murder of Norwalk gas station attendant Jose Joaquin Morales in October 2009, the attempted murder of Louis' husband in November 2009 at an Old Greenwich Mobil on the Run gas station and a Stamford bodega robbery in December 2009.

During a rambling and sometimes contradictory address to White and the court, LeConte, wearing an orange jumpsuit with his hands cuffed behind his back, apologized to victims and victims' family members -- some of whom were in the courtroom -- but also denied many of the facts of the case.

He remained stoic throughout most of the court proceedings, at one point turning to his left, where Louis' husband and family of Morales were sitting, and said, "I'm sorry. I apologize for your losses."

"I'm not perfect," he said. "I made mistakes."

Supervisory Assistant State's Attorney James Bernardi said that even some of LeConte's fellow criminals didn't understand his actions, how he shot people who had already yielded to the robberies.

LeConte's attorney Mark Phillips acknowledged the severity of the crimes and asked for White's mercy in delivering the sentence.

Talking about LeConte's developmental and cognitive problems, Phillips said LeConte's mother, who suffered a stroke during the trial, has also had health problems.

Despite the severity of the crimes, Phillips said he has seen "a window to some kind of humanity" in LeConte.

White said there is no doubt LeConte is guilty of the crimes, and that he is a "cold-hearted killer."

The evidence against LeConte was "strong and clear," White said.

"You conducted a reign of terror over a three-month period," he said.

Bernardi thanked investigator Gary Mecozzi and the Greenwich, Norwalk and Stamford police departments following the sentencing.